And So It Began
by Silent Sky
Summary: A jewel of unsurpassable power, a grudge that burns through the ages, a girl from another world. A journey of indescribable importance, a quest of unimaginable peril. It’s become my life, for good or for bad. And this, this is how it all began...


**Summary:** A jewel of unsurpassable power, a grudge that burns through the ages, a girl from another world. A journey of indescribable importance, a quest of unimaginable peril. It's become my life, for good or for bad. And this, this is how it all began…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters associated with the anime/manga.

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And So It Began

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"Inuyasha!"

The villagers' cries of anger and desperation fell on uncaring ears.

With a powerful leap, I leaped skywards, tearing through the net they had thrown over me. The fools! As if they could stop me. I laughed in contempt, darkly amused by their attempts to restrain me.

Soaring through the air, a smile touched my lips as I saw the building I was searching for. I landed lightly on the trellis that marked the beginning of the sacred ground of the temple, then propelled myself forward with another strong leap. Shooting towards the shrine, I smashed through the roof and into the building.

Slowly straightening amidst the rubble, a derisive grunt of laughter escaped me as I examined the meager defenses that were supposed to protect such a treasure. I raised my sleeve to cover my nose and mouth as the putrid fumes of the torches in the shrine assaulted my delicate sense of smell.

There it was. The Shikon no Tama, surrounded by sparkling pink light, glowing with unearthly power. And free for the taking.

Not wasting another moment, I stepped forward, snatching the jewel from its resting place. Finally, I had it.

I whirled around at the same moment the doors of the shrine burst open. The two villagers standing in the doorway hurled their spears at me.

Useless humans. I effortlessly dodged their attacks as their spears knocked over the torches, lighting the floor on fire. Smashing through the roof once again as I leaped from the burning shrine, a vicious grin lit my face as I watched the shrine explode beneath me.

"So there," I said triumphantly to myself as the force of the explosion propelled me through the air. I twisted in the air, looking down at the glowing orb clutched in my claws. "Finally," I grinned, delighting in the feel of power flowing into my hand and up my arm, "a way for me to become all-demon at last."

Finally having achieved that which I had desired for so long, I decided it was time to make my escape. With a graceful twist in the air, I landed on the cobbled path. Running forward a few steps, I once again sprung into the air, heading for the cover of trees, the safety of the forest.

"Inuyasha!"

Why didn't I catch her scent? Why didn't I see it coming?

The painfully familiar voice cried my name in the same instant that I heard the twang of the bow, the whistle of air through the feathers of the arrow.

If the sound of her voice, if the feel of her presence, if the tingle of her aura, if it all hadn't brought such a cacophony of pain tearing through my heart, mind, and soul, I just might have reacted in time. But it was not to be so.

Time seemed to slow as I twisted in the air, as I saw the arrow, engulfed in the pink glow of her spiritual powers, shooting towards me. I had no time to move, to think, to react.

The arrow struck my chest, piercing my heart. But even that pain was nothing compared to avalanche of agony her voice had already triggered inside me.

As the force of the arrow slammed me into a tree, I grunted from the impact.

And the Shikon jewel slipped from my fingers.

The grunt turned to a whimper of desperation as the precious jewel, my only means of salvation, slid out of my grasp.

I watched in disbelieving horror, my hand still outstretched, as the jewel flew gracefully through the air, landing with a gentle tink as it settled on the ground a few feet away, so close, but forever beyond my reach.

Time seemed to freeze completely as all fell silent. The gentle breeze rippled through the trees, the soft rustle of leaves only emphasizing the oppressing silence.

I tore my eyes away from the object of my desire to gaze upon the instrument of my destruction.

I stared at her, she stared at me. Pain twisted inside me at the sight of her, anger, bitterness, betrayal. My vision began to grow dim.

"K-Kikyo," I gasped, struggling to raise my still outstretched arm, struggling to understand, as I felt the life seeping out of me, "how could—I thought—"

My strength deserted me, my hand sinking down, my eyes drooping shut.

As I fell into dark oblivion, my last thoughts were of her.

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A violent pulse throbbed through my body.

Awareness returned to me in one shocking wave. Scents, sounds, and feelings assaulted the senses that had known nothing but dark emptiness for what had seemed like eternity. And as life returned to my body, so did memory.

My hand snapped open, my claws flexing, as anger and hatred flooded through me.

I slowly raised my arm as I opened golden eyes that burned with loathing.

"I smell it," I hissed softly in a deadly snarl, "the blood of the woman who killed me. And it's coming closer."

I could already feel my claws tearing through the soft flesh, see the blood flowing hot from the vein, hear the screams of agony. She would pay for what she had done to me.

I reached for the arrow that still pinned me to that cursed tree.

A growl of pain rumbled through me as pain shot from the wound in my chest, the arrow glowing pink with the remnants of the spell that had bound me in sleep. I knew now that I had been in the dark oblivion for some time, for it was now night, but had been daylight when I'd been killed. But I had no idea how much time had actually passed. A day, a week, a month? I knew not.

With the spell of the arrow still holding me pinned, I was effectively trapped. So I waited.

It wasn't long before the scent of a demon reached me along with the scent of the hated woman's blood. A centipede. No real threat. Soon the sound of footsteps reached me. It wouldn't be long now.

With a scream of pain, she flew into the small clearing that surrounded the tree where I was pinned, looking as though she had been thrown. Her moan of pain filled me with delight.

I stared at the woman who slowly, painfully, pushed herself up.

No, something was wrong. This wasn't right. What . . . what was she wearing? Her hair, it was shorter. She looked . . . younger? No matter. Her scent had not changed, and her appearance _was_ the same, for the most part. It was her. And now it was time for the debt to be paid.

"Hello, Kikyo," I sneered as she slowly looked up at me, "playing with bugs now, are we?"

Her eyes widened with surprise and confusion as I glared down at her. She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position.

"So you're alive?" she asked, looking bewildered.

I ignored her feigned innocence.

"Why are you taking so long to kill it?" I asked, smirking, "just do'er like you did me." She continued to stare up at me in astonishment. I blinked. "You look pretty dumb there, Kikyo," I sneered, trying to goad her into a reaction. "The Kikyo _I_ know wouldn't waste her time."

Some emotion finally flashed in her eyes. "That does it!" she exclaimed angrily, jumping to her feet, "Kikyo, Kikyo, who_ever_ she is, she's not me, 'cause my name is—"

"She's here." I didn't bother to ponder what she was babbling about as the centipede dropped out of the tree from above us, hanging down in front of me as it reached for Kikyo.

With a fearful gasp, she stumbled, backing away from the centipede as it reached for her. I watched, bemused, as the villagers, none whom I recognized, gathered at the edge of the clearing. Two threw spears with attached ropes, lodging them in the centipede's side. The demon looked up in surprise, turning to face the men with a growl.

Kikyo fell to the ground uselessly.

The villagers threw two more spears with ropes, impaling the centipede higher up on its insectile body.

"Good," one of the men yelled, "now pull!"

Grunts of effort filled the forest as the villagers heaved on the ropes, pulling the centipede away, but I ignored it all, focusing solely on the woman lying on the ground near the base of my tree.

"So I _was_ saved," she murmured to herself, sounding relieved.

My condescending smirk grew. "You're _pathetic_, Kikyo." I sneered, meaning it. Who would have thought she would have become so weak and useless? Just how long had I been sealed?

She twisted around to face me, anger filling her eyes. "I'm not Kikyo!" she yelled. Jumping to her feet, she gestured expansively, "Look, I'm telling you, I'm not her!" She stomped forward, climbing up the vines that had wrapped around me. "Whoever '_her_' is!"

A small part of my mind suddenly realized what the significance of the vines meant, but I pushed the terrifying thought aside, determined to give Kikyo the full thrust of my temper. Of course it was her! The scent was unmistakable, even if her appearance – and capabilities – had changed somewhat.

"And I'm saying you gotta be her," I yelled back, "'cause if you're not, there's no way that you could smell so—"

I stopped. Sniffed. Blanked.

"You not her." It came out a soft, disbelieving whisper.

It wasn't her!

A jerked my head away from the girl, suddenly wanting to escape this woman, to escape this world. I just didn't understand at all!

"I know!" the girl snapped, "My name is Kagome!"

No!

"Ka—"

How could this be?

"—go—"

How in hell had this happened!

"—me!"

The small bit of ground I had had to stand on crumbled out from under me and I floundered for some firm footing. Nothing made any sense! What was going on? What had happened? Who was this person who so resembled Kikyo? My mind grappled uselessly with itself, trying to make sense of the inexplicable unknown my life had now become. Staring, horrified and confused, into the eyes of the strange woman, I struggled vainly for something to say that would buy me some time to figure things out, or at least shut her up long enough for me to think.

I looked away in a desperate attempt to escape the girl's glare.

"You're right," I blurted, "Kikyo was cuter." That ought to shut her up. My mind reeled in circles miles away. "Much cuter," I muttered, not really paying attention to what I was saying. Even as the girl's face darkened in anger, I continued to ignore her, struggling to understand this world I had been thrust into. It just didn't make one bit of sense.

I was rudely jarred out of my thoughts as the centipede suddenly appeared behind the girl. As the girl loosed a scream, it grabbed her and pulled.

And then she grabbed my hair.

Pain shot through my scalp as the centipede pulled harder, causing the girl to, in turn, pull my hair harder. I gritted my teeth in pain.

"Let go of me!" the girl screamed.

"Ow ow ow!" I yelled, furious and in no small amount of pain, "_you_ let go!"

But of course, why would anyone listen to me?

The demon gave another hard yank. "Give me the Sacred Jewel!" she shrieked.

My heart missed a beat.

_Scared Jewel?_

With a snarling screech, the centipede opened its mouth wide, revealing rows of pointed fangs. It lunged for the girl.

Finally releasing my hair, the girl twisted around. "Stop it!" she screamed, raising her hand.

Pink light flashed, blasting the demon back. The girl fell to the ground, followed by the demon's five remaining arms.

She slowly sat up, staring at her hand.

"Hey," she said quietly to herself, "I did that before too, in the well."

She slowly raised herself to her knees. I, along with everyone else, stared at her in shock. Her words made no sense. Was she a half-wit or something?

"But how'd I do it though?" she asked herself.

A pink glow suddenly erupted from the skin in her side, shining right through her strange shirt. She gasped, looking even more surprised and confused than I felt.

"What's happening now?" She looked up a moment too late.

The centipede charged her, it mouth closing over her glowing side. With an enraged scream, the demon flung the girl into the air. I watched in stunned disbelief as a small, pink orb burst from the girl's side in a shower of blood.

I hardly noticed the girl's inelegant, bouncing return to earth as my eyes locked on the Shikon no Tama as it rolled to a halt, just feet away from me, the girl landing with a thump just behind it. So close, but still out of my reach!

"Give me the jewel!" I said quickly, desperately, as the girl started to rise, "Quick!" I hoped she was truly as dumb as she seemed.

"Wha—" she started to ask.

"Hurry!" I yelled, seeing the centipede coming up behind her.

Too late. The demon, already coiled around the tree, snapped its body tight, pulling the girl against the trunk, pinning her against me. I ignored the girl pressed up against my legs and focused on the centipede as it lowered itself to my eyelevel.

She sneered at me as I scowled back at her. "I heard some half-demon spawn was after the Sacred Jewel," she narrowed her eyes at me, her throaty voice deepening with derision. "It's you, isn't it?" She laughed wickedly.

My scowl turned into a confident smirk. "Half's all I need to kick your scaly butt." I taunted. "Anything more than that'd be a waste of my time."

The girl suddenly leaned back, looking up at me.

"Listen," she said, "you talk big, but can you back it up?"

"Hm?" I stared down at her in disbelief. She couldn't be serious, asking me such a stupid question.

"Can you or not?" she demanded.

I stared at her for another moment before deciding that my first hunch had been correct: she was as dumb as a mule.

Ignoring her, I looked back to the threat at hand.

"What _can_ he do, pinned there like that?" The centipede goaded, "Or you, for that matter? You're powerless to stop me." She lowered herself towards the ground, still smirking at me, and laughed viciously. "You're helpless, the both of you." Her tongue slid out of her mouth and wrapped around the jewel.

"Don't you _dare_!" I snarled furiously.

The demon swallowed the jewel.

The humans chattered uselessly in panic. My blood pounded with rage. That foul bug had my jewel!

The stumps of the centipede's arms glowed red, the rest of its arms snapping back into place and fusing to its body. There wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

"Look," the girl whispered, her hands tightening their grip on my sleeve, "it's re-arming."

Arching its back, the demon made a hissing, screeching noise as its skin burst off its body, revealing slimy black skin underneath. It quivered, pulsing.

"At last," she screeched triumphantly, "my power is complete!"

A calm descended on me. There was nothing I could do while Kikyo's arrow still pinned me to the tree. I couldn't remove the arrow. But maybe . . .

The demon's coils tightened as it transformed, reveling in its new power.

The girl gasped as the demon's body squeezed her against the tree, pulling her downwards at the same time.

"It's crushing me!" she cried, clinging with both fists to my kimono.

"Hey," I said softly, slowly, "can you . . . pull out this arrow?"

Her grimace of pain turned into a look of surprise as her head snapped up.

"Huh?"

How dense was this human? It was a simple question. I struggled to contain my frustration.

"Look," I snapped, "can you pull out this arrow or not?"

"I," she reached up, struggling against the crushing force of the demon's body, "I don't know."

She stretched up a little higher, but the demon chose that moment to squeeze harder, and the girl's hand clenched in pain.

"Nay child!" a voice suddenly called. My head snapped up, my eyes locking angrily on the old priestess who had just dismounted from her horse. "Once the arrow is removed, then Inuyasha will be free to destroy us all!"

"Don't be stupid, you old hag!" I yelled, furious with her interference, "at least with me you've got a chance! Whereas that thing's going to _eat_ you!"

I looked down at the girl struggling against the crushing force of the centipede's coils.

"What about you?" I snapped, "Are you ready to _die_ yet?"

She strenuously dragged her head up to gaze at the arrow. After a moment's pause, she heaved herself up, her fist closing around the arrow.

"I choose to—" her muscles tightened as she pulled as hard as she could on the arrow, "—live!" The last word came out in a shout as the arrow lit with a pinkish glow and shattered into dust.

Pink light engulfed my vision. I could feel the blood rush through my veins as my entire body pulsed. Power filled my limbs once again as life surged through me. My body continued to pulse as Kikyo's spell disappeared.

As the glow began to fade, my vision returning to normal, I barely noticed the girl stilled pinned against me.

"Um, uh, Inu . . . yasha?" she whispered.

I was free! As strength and power flowed through me once again after so long, I began to laugh.

The demon's head snapped up to stare at me, and it screeched with consternation and fear. Howling, it snapped its body outward then slammed it back against the tree, attempting to crush me.

With a yell, I blasted the demon's body apart, leaping away from the tree, somersaulting through the air to land gracefully on the other side of the demon.

"Wicked child!" she hissed, rearing up to attack me.

I whirled, tearing the air with my claws in flashes of golden light.

"Nasty hag!" I shot back.

The demon lunged for me with a furious shriek.

"Iron reaver, soul stealer!"

My claws ripped through the centipede's face, shredding its torso and tearing through its body. Reveling in my regained freedom, I tore the demon apart, blasting it to shreds.

Slicing through the last section of its body, I landed gracefully on the ground as the demon's body exploded in a flash of golden light and fell to the ground in pieces all around me. I smiled triumphantly. Pathetic bug.

I turned around to look at the humans just as the old priestess pulled the Shikon no Tama from a chunk of the centipede's body. The demon's flesh disintegrated into dust, leaving nothing but bones scattered throughout the clearing.

The old woman turned to face the girl, that strange woman who looked and smelled so much like Kikyo. Holding out the fist clutching the jewel, the hag dropped it into the girl's hands.

"Huh?" the girl muttered, "But—"

Definitely a half-wit.

"Only ye may possess the Sacred Jewel." The old woman said sternly. I smirked to myself. Or so she thought.

The girl stared dumbly at the jewel in her hands. "But how'd it get inside my body?" she asked softly, almost to herself. She looked up at the priestess standing in front of her, confusion in her eyes. "Why would I have a jewel wanted by demons?"

I had heard enough. I stepped forward, crushing a piece of the centipede's skeleton under my foot.

"Exactly," I said, smirking. "Humans can't use it, so why bother to keep it?" I raised one hand, flexing my fingers. "If you hand the jewel over right now, I won't have to start sharpening my claws on you." I smiled maliciously.

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. She stared at me for a moment.

"What?" she blurted belatedly, as though unable to believe her ears.

I suppressed a snort of disgust. She truly was an idiot.

And soon, very soon, the Sacred Jewel would be mine.

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**A/N: **This was taken straight from the anime (Episode 1); I'm proud to say that the dialogue is word for word, the actions are almost exact (though I may not have described every blink, lol). Just a little fun with 1st person point of view. ;-)


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